Stop the Spread was a multi-media public health awareness campaign by
Safefood aimed at tackling public misconception regarding overweightness and obesity in adults on the island of
Ireland
Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
. The campaign was officially launched on 10 May 2011 at the
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London, commonly referred to simply as the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), is a British professional membership body dedicated to improving the practice of medicine, chiefly through the accreditation of ph ...
by
Minister of State
Minister of state is a designation for a government minister, with varying meanings in different jurisdictions. In a number of European countries, the title is given as an honorific conferring a higher rank, often bestowed upon senior minister ...
at the
Department of Health and Children with responsibility for primary care,
Róisín Shortall
Róisín Shortall (born 25 April 1954) is an Irish former Social Democrats politician who served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North-West constituency from 1992 to 2024. She was previously founding joint leader of the Social Democrats ...
T.D.
Campaign message
A key message of the campaign was communicating new information to the public on waist sizes for men and women, and how to measure these correctly. These waist measurements are 32 inches for women and 37 inches for men based on guidelines from the
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...
(WHO) for a healthy waist size.
The campaign used both online and offline media including, TV and radio and outdoor advertising and public relations encouraging members of the public to pick up a free measuring tape from participating pharmacies and check their waist measurements. ''Stop the Spread'' represented the first integrated use of social and digital media by Safefood in a public health awareness campaign.
To raise further awareness of the campaign with the public, an 8-week weight management programme with MLA's in the
Northern Ireland Assembly
The Northern Ireland Assembly (; ), often referred to by the metonym ''Stormont'', is the devolved unicameral legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliam ...
was carried out. In total, 32 MLAs participated including the Chair and Deputy Chair of the Health Committee.
Post-campaign evaluation
Safefood's post campaign research demonstrated that it had successfully achieved its objectives.
* Increase in public awareness of the issue of overweightness and obesity with a 5% increase among adults on the island of Ireland who now consider themselves to be overweight.
* There was also an increased recognition of the scale of the problem which had shifted from 30% (benchmark) to 50% in December 2011 with 1 in 5 claiming to have measured their waist during the campaign.
* 40% reporting that the campaign had motivated them to start losing weight.
* Support of the campaign was secured from over 75% of pharmacies from across the island of Ireland.
* Over 400,000 free measuring tapes were distributed.
References
{{reflist
Health in Ireland